Christmas crafting...

This year my Christmas crafting was a little more limited as time was running away.  We did get together for our annual Christmas Card making day, and this year I had some very special guests, my niece and nephew and Brittany.  It made for a very fun but very hectic day!  I took some photos of Emily's Christmas cards - I thought she did a really good job!

I managed to make some Christmas tags, and then Britt and I made some Christmas bon bons for our special Christmas dinner.  First we gathered our supplies and came up with a design for my red and white theme, and then set up a production line.  We worked really well together!

The finished product...

They added a lovely touch to our Christmas table....

Honeybee Hurrah 2011

Well I am not sure where the year has gone, but it is time for our Honeybee Hurrah for 2011!  This year I decided to make a little take home souvenir for the year - a summary of our books read for 2011.  I saw this idea somewhere on the web, and cannot remember where, but the design was my idea and I used Papertrey Ink products.  First I used the file Heidi had created with little thumbnails of the covers of books we had read over the year and made mini book pages from them.

Then I used the Lunchbox note die from Papertrey Ink to cut a folder for each book, and stuck the mini pages inside.

Then I decorated the front using the same style as I did for the bookclub calendar at the beginning of the year.  I thought they came up quite well really...

 

Once done they went into the party bags...

Next on the list was cupcake toppers...

and party food labels...

jars of lollies (tee hee)...

and of course a party table!

Another lovely day for our Honeybee Hurrah!

Paper Eskimo Competition

With the Honeybees reading 'Water for Elephants' for book club, it gave me the perfect excuse to style an entry for the Paper Eskimos - Head of the Table competition.  The circus theme was set and I had lots of fun gathering my supplies, including Paper Eskimo products of course!  Paper plates, serviettes, gift bags and tags, a table runner and little cupcake patty pans.  I even managed to find some elephant themed gifts for the take home bags!

So with the party bags put together, we got to work on the backdrop to the party table.  With a combination of crepe paper, tablecloths, blue tac, string and bamboo garden stakes, this was the final result!  I was very happy with that!

Then it was time to set the table with all our goodies.  I made lemonade for Rosie (you will have to read the book for that...), had jars of peanuts, jaffas and popcorn, little pies and frankfurters, homemade elephant cookies, mini hot-dogs, popcorn, fairy floss, toffee apples, strawberries, cinnamon donuts, little cups of elephant food (celery and carrot sticks with humus), and the final touch my circus tent cup cakes!  Here are some more photos of the details.

   

Book club was a great success and the girls loved it!  Nothing like an excuse for a party I say, cos we are all kids at heart.  Heidi was so impressed she even wrote a poem which I have included below.

Paper Eskimo Circus Spectacular

Roll up! Roll up! For the greatest show

Our thanks go to Paper Eskimo

Hailed as the best circus in town

All we were missing was a red-nosed clown

Paper Eskimo provided ideas

The room resounded in gleeful cheers

For the table was truly a sight to behold

Decked out in white and red and gold

Circus tent red appeared on the runner

It mirrored the ruby-red toffee-apple glimmer

Elephant biscuits paraded in lines

Pyramids of donuts and pies reached the skies

No water for elephants, now it is clear

Lemonade and peanuts make elephants cheer

Celery and carrot for those feeling healthy

Hot dogs and mustard for those really hungry

Serviettes guarded against any messes

No one wanted to mess with their dresses

Homeward bound went our party girls

Clutching party bags trimmed with ribbons and curls

Who could forget the joy of the day

With circus tent cupcakes lined up on display

These were undoubtedly star of the show

And all thanks to Paper Eskimo

So wish me luck and we will see how we go in the competition.

Centenary Dinner

Earlier this year I was given the opportunity to coordinate decorations for the Centenary Dinner of my local church.  The first challenge was the budget ($200) for 200 people which meant I had to put my thinking cap on as to how to do things cheaply as well as effectively!  After some brain storming I came up with a few ideas all pretty reliant on free things (milk cartons and tree branches) and cheap tissue paper, wrapping paper and kitty litter!  I utilised some of Martha Stewart's ideas including the puff balls and the cherry blossoms pattern.

The colour scheme was black, red and white, the colours of the Uniting Church, which gave us a focus for the decorations.  I mocked up some table decorations, milk carton holders for the tea lights and punched the table numbers using Papertrey numbers. Once we had agreed on a design it was time to get to work!

We had a working bee one Saturday when lots got done folding forty puff balls, making the candle holders, cherry blossoms, and tying ribbons on 200 menus.  

The team of people helping me kept working on things in the evenings, like fluffing pom poms and sticking on blossoms until we were ready for the set up.

We had access to the hall Saturday morning, which was just as well as it took about 3 hours to get things done.  First the puff balls were hung in the centre of the room in a grid pattern.  I had attached them to hula hoops wrapped in tissue paper to make it easier.   And then we got to setting the tables.

It came together quite well in the end with the centre pieces adding colour and focus, and each place setting having their own menu and handmade rose chocolates to take home.

With large vases of cherry blossoms in the corners of the room it came together beautifully.

Finally, I have to say I could not have achieved all this without the wonderful team of volunteers who assisted in so many ways, on so many days! The feedback was very positive and a great night was had by all.

Royal Wedding Fever

Well like many others around the world, I had to participate in a little Royal Wedding fever!  I decided to hold a tea party to coincide with the televising of the big event and got to work making a few royal themed pretties.  I gathered my supplies (which sometimes I think is the most fun!) and got to work.

I managed to source some great stuff from the web including some British flags which I was able to print and make into bunting. With some paper wedding bells from my local party supply store, the lounge was looking quite festive!

 I decided to make some handbags for my guests, because everyone should have a handbag for a wedding!  I used my own design and made them out of royal blue cardboard with a red flap, a British flag and of course some bling!

 Combined with a tiara for every princess, I included a few wedding essentials including a hanky for the tears, band-aid for the blisters, bubbles to blow, chocolate hearts, and of course blue and silver engagement rings for everyone!  Lots of fun.
So once everyone had arrived we settled down to watch the telecast and enjoyed our high tea.

Just a lovely evening... and a lovely wedding.  Diana would have been very proud.

Easter Treats

At some point I aim to be organised enough to actually post pictures of my creations before the event happens rather than weeks after the occasion.  In the meantime it is nice to have a record of the various things and functions I have created for this year.  It has certainly been a busy first half of the year (although we have another 6 weeks before that point I guess) and time continues to fly!

So today I wanted to show you the treat baskets I made for the family at Easter.  I used Papertrey Ink papers, inks and dies to create these cute little baskets.  I chose the pastel colours to match the zig zag paper I managed to pick up sometime a couple of years ago.

I used the flower and zig zag dies to create decorations for the front and stamped them with the basket weave stamp and a little 'Happy Easter' stamp. On the back I couldn't resist the 'handmade for you' stamp that came with the easter eggs stamp.

Then I made some little cards with eggs on them cut from the dies and used one of the little frame dies and matching stamp in coordinating colours.

I ended up using these as decorations on the plates with the serviettes for lunch.

When Mum came on Easter day she brought me a lovely flower arrangement in a cracked egg vase which took pride of place in the centre of the table!

Everything looked very festive in the end!  And there was just room in those little baskets for some Easter treats of chocolate eggs.
Perfect for celebrating Easter with the family.

Book Club

I wanted to show you the programs I made for the girls at book club this year.  I chose a blue, kraft and chocolate colour scheme and used Papetrey stamps.  Once I got into a production line they came together pretty quickly!  First I made the plates to go on the front.

Then I added them to the cards which I had decorated with striped and spotted papers from Papertrey Library Ledger and some punched strips of chocolate and cream.

They look pretty good once all together.

On the inside I stuck the program for the year which I put into word and printed out.

The girls loved them!  Here is to another year of Honey Bees Book Club!

Tour Down Under

Summer is such a busy time here with wonderful events luring us outdoors to enjoy the sunshine.  Two weeks ago was the Tour Down Under which is a cycling event that has grown very popular over the past few years.  One of the stages happens to go right past our beach house and we have a lunch when our friends and family come down to enjoy the day.
This year I decided to make some invitations as it was Lance Armstrong's last professional ride outside of America.  Since it was at the beach I decided on the beachy colours of yellow, aqua and white.  And of course, yellow is a key colour of the Livestrong Foundation for cancer research.  So this is the invitation I came up with. I used Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores cardstock with yellow polka dot cardstock.

I used a chipboard bicycle as a mask and misted it with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  Then I stamped 'On ya bike' with Papertrey Outline Alphabet stamps in aqua ink and then coloured them in with yellow Copic Markers

And the finished product looked like this....

I had quite a few kids coming so I couldn't help but do some party bags, popcorn cones and of course cup cake toppers!

Paper: Papertrey Ink

Die Cuts: Papertrey Ink

Other: Ribbon, Papertrey Ink, Copic Markers, brads Kaisercraft

All in all the place looked really festive by the time we had decorated!

And this was all we saw of Lance - a shoulder through my camera lens!  But a great day was had by all.  I hope Lance comes back again next year even if he doesn't ride!